Process of degumming and preparing fibers



NITED S'rn'rns v FFICEQ are IVALTER R. IVADE, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK.

fiPEGIFIGATION' forming part of Letters Patent No. 449,454, dated March 31, 1891.

Application filed May 22, 1890. Serial No. 352,781. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVALTER R). \VADE, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Processes of Degumming and Preparing Fibers, of which the following peeling the bark containing the fiber from the same and separating it from the woody stemsin which condition the different fibers, notably ramie, can be had in the various markets of the world, although the fibers of flax and hemp are often still freed from their adherent woody stems by a different process. Any of the above fibers I boil in an aqueous alkaline solution of potash or soda and saponine until the gum is dissolved and the strands separated into the smaller fibers of which they are composed. The proportions of potash or soda and saponine maybe varied within considerable limits for any one of the above-named fibers, and with different samples of the same fiber should be varied to some extent, as the quantity and quality of the gum by which the fibers are agglutinated differ in these different plants and in the different lots of the same plant.

A man skilled in the art of treating fibers will through the exercise of his acquired skill vary the proportions of the alkali and saponine by observingits action upon each different lot which he is treating or preparing. To

give ramie as an illustration, as without itsundergoing a previous chemical preparation the fiber is unsuited for the manufacture of the finer textile fabrics, it may be prepared as follows: Take the decorticated fiber, as above described, boil it at a pressure of from thirty-five to fifty pounds from four to five hours in an aqueous solution of caustic soda of the strength of from one and one-half to two and one-half degrees of Baums areometer, (temperature Fahrenheit-,) to which has been added from half an ounce to one ounce of crude saponine to every hundred gallons of the alkaline solution, the strength of the solution within the above limits varying according to the purity of the articles used, the amount of pressure employed, and the maturity reached by the plants from which the fibers have been obtained, which latter is easily recognized by the experienced eye. As soon as this process has dissolved the gum from the fiber,which is evident from the separation'of the fine fibers which compose the largest fiberstrands in their raw state, I cleanse the fiber from the solution and the gum by washing and pressing. A very good way is to remove the fiber from the solution, wring it or press it until comparatively dry, then wash it, and finally wring or press out the water. I now immerse the fiber in a bath of acidulated water, making the bath of such strength as not to permit the 'acid to injure the fiber. Sulphuric acid will do, taking about one pound of the ordinary commercial sulphuric acid to one hundred gallons of water. After remaining in this bath, usually only a few minutes, Itake the fiber out of the bath and bleach it by application of ordinary known bleaching agents. \Vhen the fiber is sufficiently bleached, I rinse it in water to remove the bleaching agent, and then boil itin a weak alkaline bath containing softsoap or other equivalent saponaceous material until the fiber is sufficiently softened to be fit for use, and then allow it to cool gradually, after which I Wash or rinse it, when it is ready to be made into threads or yarn by the manufacturers and to be manufactured into any known way.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

r 1. The herein-described process of degum' ming and preparing fibers, consisting in boiling them in an alkaline solution containing saponine.

2. The herein-described process of degumming and preparing raw fibers, consisting in boiling the raw fiber in an alkaline solution of potash or soda and saponine and subjecting the fiber t11us boiled to the action of a bath bath of aciduiated Water, and boiling the 0f a'oiduiated water. fiber in a slightly-alkaline bath containing 10 3. The herein-described process of degumsoft soap or other saponaceous material. Ining and preparing raw fibers, consisting in dissolving the gum by the action of an aika- WVALTER R. WADE. line solution of potash or soda containing sa \Vltnesscs; ponine, washing out the solution and the dis- HENRY B. LOTHROP,

solved gum, subjecting the Washed fiber to a GERTRUDE H. ANDERSON. 

